The Heist Pipeline

Every feature development cycle in Gangsta Agents follows the same structured process — a 6-phase Heist that ensures specs are written before code, designs are debated before committing, and results are verified before delivery.

Phase Overview

The Six Phases

1. Reconnaissance

Gather intel on the codebase, requirements, dependencies, and existing patterns before writing a single line of code. Explore Reconnaissance →

2. The Grilling

Run an adversarial debate between a proposer and a devil's advocate to stress-test designs before committing to implementation. Explore The Grilling →

3. The Sit-Down

Draft the formal specification — no code allowed. The Contract becomes the binding spec that governs all subsequent implementation. Explore The Sit-Down →

4. Resource Development

Decompose the spec into work packages, assign territories, and prepare the infrastructure for parallel execution. Explore Resource Development →

5. Execution

Workers implement the approved work packages in parallel, with strict TDD enforcement and real-time progress reporting to Crew Leads. Explore Execution →

6. The Delivery

Verify, integrate, lint, test, and update the Ledger. Clean output only — no dirty code gets merged. Explore The Delivery →

Phase Gates

Every phase ends with a gate — a checkpoint requiring the Don's explicit approval. The framework never auto-advances to the next phase.

Starting a Heist

There are two ways to start a Heist:

Manual (Gated)

Express a building intention to your AI tool:

"I want to add user notifications to my app"

The 1% Rule triggers gangsta:reconnaissance automatically. From there, each phase flows into the next with your approval at every gate.

Autonomous Mode

Use the /gangsta:heist slash command to run phases 1–4 end-to-end without pausing at each gate:

/gangsta:heist make a user notifications system with push notification delivery

The Don Proxy approves each gate on your behalf. When the Contract and Execution Plan are ready, you sign with /gangsta:go to execute phases 5–6. Full Autonomous Mode docs →

Slash Commands

Resuming a Heist

If a session is interrupted:

1. Check docs/gangsta/ for checkpoint files
2. Read the latest checkpoint
3. Present the resume context to the Don
4. Continue from the last completed phase

Checkpoint Recovery guide →

The Full Cycle

Reconnaissance → The Grilling → The Sit-Down → Resource Dev → Execution → The Delivery
     │                │                │               │            │             │
  Dossier         Consensus        Contract       Execution     Code +         Clean
  approved         approved          signed          Plan        Budgets      Delivery
                                                    approved

Each phase produces a concrete artifact that the next phase depends on. You cannot skip phases, and you cannot proceed without explicit approval.